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The as yet unidentified woman is reported to be in her mid-30s and lives with her parents. Her husband has largely been missing from reports, but some say he is a “contract employee” who may be returning to Iraq where he works as a contractor, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Now comes word that the woman has six young children at home, all under the age of seven, and that the family filed for bankruptcy recently and abandoned a home a year ago. All leaving the question- when does medical ethics play in a role in in-vitro fertilization?

Here is what we know:

The woman received fertility treatments, according to her mother - but where and what kind of treatment remains an unanswered question

She went to Kaiser Permanente Bellflower Medical Center, some 17 miles southeast of Los Angeles when she was three months pregnant. Kaiser did not perform the fertility treatment.

She was told her options- to abort fetuses selectively or to continue with the pregnancy. The woman said she did not want to abort any embryos

The eight babies were born nine weeks premature, delivered by Caesarean section

It took a team of 46 doctors, nurses and assistants to deliver the babies in a span of five minutes

Six boys and two girls were delivered

Premature babies are known to have health problems, sometimes throughout their lives, as their organs are not fully developed at birth

The babies are still in neo-natal intensive care and have not yet been held by their mother

The babies will remain in the hospital several more weeks but are making good progress

The babies grandfather is from Iraq and has plans to return to raise money for his growing family while the family lives in a two or three bedroom home outside of Los Angeles

CBS News reports the family filed for bankruptcy and abandoned a home a little over a year-and-a half ago

There is no information on how the woman paid for her fertility treatments

What Medical Ethicists Say

When asked whether Kaiser Permanente Bellflower condones providing fertility assistance to a mother who already has many other children, Dr. Harold Henry told reporters, “Kaiser has no policy on that.”

Instead she was counseled on her options.

The Early Show on CBS talked to Michael Tucker, scientific director of Georgia Reproductive Specialists, which provides reproductive services such as in-vitro fertilization.

He told reporters the developments leave him “stunned”. “This is just remarkable to me that any practitioner in our field of reproductive medicine would undertake such a practice,” he said.

Tucker adds that the woman likely took fertility drugs on her own without a doctor’s guidance.

The profession, if governed under the American Society of Reproductive Medicine guidelines, encourages a pre-interview of prospective parents to determine if they are psychologically and financially able to raise a child.

If using in-vitro fertilization, the professional guidelines are to implant one or two embryos at a time in the uterus to end up with a single birth or twins delivered full-term.

It’s less likely you can control the number of embryos with hormone injections. Hormones spark the growth of follicles which are more receptive to artificial or natural insemination.

Dr. Mark Perloe, a medical director at Georgia Reproductive Specialists, tells MSNBC that with this type of fertility treatment, doctors need to closely monitor the woman's cycle because it is impossible to predict how many pregnancies will result.

interviewed Dr. Jamie Grifo, a fertility specialist at the NYU Fertility Center. In his 22 years, he says he’s only seen a quad birth twice.

He attributes that to good communication between patient and doctor. “if you spend time explaining the risks and benefits, most of the time they make a good decision” he says. The risks to the mother include enlarged ovaries, heart failure, and developmental disorders in the children, he says.

Of the seven babies born to an Iowa couple in 1997, two have cerebral palsy. The number of multiple births have been declining in recent years as in-vitro specialists believe the limit a uterus can safely handle is two babies.

This is just the second time there has been a successful octuplet delivery in the U.S. The last octuplets were born in Houston ten years ago, but one baby died a week later. #

6 Comments

Posted by AppalledFriday, January 30, 2009 1:53 PM EST

There is no mention in the LA Times article you supplied as a source about a husband for this woman. It's the woman's FATHER who is the contract employee, and is reportedly returning to Iraq.

I think it's irresponsible and an abuse of this technology for any fertility clinic would provide such services to a woman who already has SIX children.

Los Angeles Times reports today that Nadya Suleman age 33, is divorced and used a sperm donor. She wanted just one more girl!

Posted by PrincessMonday, February 02, 2009 7:59 AM EST

Ok heres this woman who has all these children and the government will end up giving her free medicaid for all those kids!! I have two uninsured children and I can't even get help!This is an outrage!!! A bus company will probably give this woman a darned bus to transport all these kids! I say she puts most if not all of them up for adoption so that couples who relly want and can afford children can beparents.This women doesn't deserve this many babies!!!!!

Posted by hiThursday, February 05, 2009 11:02 PM EST

i say congrats!!!!!

Comments for this article are closed.

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